PROJECT SUMMARY We are requesting a basic transmission electron microscope for the Electron Microscopy Core Facility (EMCF) at UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, TX. The EMCF is a campus-wide, institutionally supported, fee for service facility that provides electron microscopy services for basic and clinical science investigators at UT Southwestern. The requested instrument is intended to replace a nearly thirty year old microscope that is no longer state of the art and is frequently out of service due to failing components that are no longer manufactured and are difficult to find. Acquisition of the new microscope will enable the health related research of the 9 research laboratories listed in this application, as well as many other laboratories who use the EMCF in support of their NIH funded research. Among other projects, the requested microscope will be used to to study lung function and repair, the role of cell death in cancer and neurodegeneration, the causes of pre-term birth, the regulation of body fat metabolism, the molecular mechanisms of muscle disease, the role of adult stem cells in cancer proliferation, and the etiology of macular degeneration.